


Secret Identities and Hidden Feelings

by EverydayGeek



Category: Supergirl (TV 2015)
Genre: F/F
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-06-22
Updated: 2017-10-04
Packaged: 2018-11-17 07:04:13
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 4
Words: 5,991
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11270466
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/EverydayGeek/pseuds/EverydayGeek
Summary: Supergirl and Kara came as a package deal, and Lena didn’t have the heart to tell Kara that she’d figured out her identity months ago.orThe one where Lena and Kara begin dating and Lena finds herself trying to make a great impression on everyone important in Kara's life. And Kara loves her for it.





	1. Chapter 1

Lena Luthor wasn't used to having friends who cared about her. If she were being honest with herself, the only person that had ever given a damn about her was Lex, and even he turned his back on her when she refused to follow his lead. Her mother was no better, always comparing her to Lex and letting her know how much of a disgrace she was to the Luthor name. Lionel had favored Lena over Lex, for a little while, if only for the fact that she was everything Lex could never be. Lena was his chess champ, his beauty queen, and the trophy daughter he had always wanted to show off. It took years for her to realize that he hadn't loved her unconditionally like one would expect a parent to love their child; he'd loved her because she followed orders and rarely ever challenged his authority.

Lionel stopped loving her the moment she chose to go down a path that was her own, and not the one he was guiding her through. He'd ignored her, then, only referring to her as his daughter to keep up public appearance, but never claiming her as his own in private. The unconditional love and support that Lena fantasized about her entire life never came from those who were supposed to give it to her. It did, however, come from one unlikely reporter, who had stumbled into her office one afternoon with the high and mighty, Clark Kent, leading her inside.

Lena remembered the first time she'd laid eyes on Kara Danvers. Kara was bright-eyed, passionate, and had an insatiable appetite for truth and justice. She challenged Lena, yet still made her feel respected, trusted, and cared for, all at once. She stood up for her when no one else would, and stuck by her even when all those around her chose to think the worst of her. Lena had never known anyone like Kara Danvers. It wasn't every day that Lena had someone challenge their friends and family just to prove her innocence. It was nice, knowing that she always had someone in her corner. It was even nicer knowing that she not only had Kara, but Supergirl as well.

Supergirl and Kara came as a package deal, and Lena didn't have the heart to tell Kara that she'd figured out her identity months ago. It was cute watching her talk about herself in third person, while trying to explain how she'd known to show up the exact moment Lena had found trouble. Or the way Supergirl and Kara tended to ramble when they were nervous, their mannerisms and nervous tics being so comically identical that they were practically mirror images. Lena supposed she should feel offended - knowing that Kara had been lying to her about her identity for months - but she couldn't find it in herself to be angry. She was a Luthor, after all; she couldn't blame Kara for practicing caution. Not that Lena would ever tell anyone her secret.

She'd rather give up her company than put Kara (or Supergirl) in harm's way.

Lena used to think her protectiveness and affection for Kara was strictly platonic, but after months of being around her, she knew it was so much more than that. The excitement she felt whenever Kara entered her office or sent her a cute text or brought her snacks just because she was in the area, made Lena's heart flutter. If you paired Lena's autonomic responses with her lack of filter and unmistakable heart eyes, then you'd color her surprised when Kara still hadn't caught on to her feelings for her. It would probably take a marriage proposal to make Kara aware of her feelings.

For the last two weeks, Lena had watched Kara babysit that new guy, Mike. He was obviously an alien, too, and an imbecilic one at that. He obviously had feelings for her and, while Lena didn't think Kara would ever date someone like _that_ , she couldn't help but feel slightly envious anytime Kara cut one of their lunch dates short so she could clean up whatever mess he'd made. Lena just didn't see his appeal.

Hopefully Kara didn't either.

Lena sighed and rested her arms on the railing of her office balcony, looking at the bustling city below. From where she stood, she spotted Supergirl knelt in front of a little girl, playing with a puppy. Lena smiled at the sight and chortled in amusement; leave it to Kara to stop patrolling the city so she could play with a cute dog. Lena watched them for a few minutes until Supergirl stood to her full height and waved to the little girl. Moments later, Supergirl raised her right arm and shot into the clear, blue sky. Lena watched her until she disappeared behind the clouds.

* * *

After walking out of a meeting with a possible investor from Metropolis, Lena made her way to her office, only to be stopped by her new assistant, Candace. Candace was twenty-two and a biogenetics major at National City University. She was very kind, but stern when need be. Lena had taken a liking to her and hired her on the spot two days ago. Now, however, Candace looked less like the stern girl she hired and more like a panicked child scared to tell their mother they'd broken her brand-new vase.

"Candace, what happened?" Lena questioned, her eyes narrowed.

Candace, wide-eyed and breathless, began to utter an explanation, "This blonde woman asked to see you and when I told her you were in a meeting, she said she'd just wait in your office. I tried to stop her, but she's really fast and unnaturally strong."

Lena chuckled and, instead of responding to her assistant, just walked the few yards it took to get to her office. When she opened the door, she found Kara standing in the middle of the room with a bag of pastries in her hand, from an Italian bakery Lena loved so much.

When Kara caught sight of Lena, the reporter beamed and held up the box of pastries as an explanation for her unexpected visit. "I was in the area and figured I'd surprise you with some cannoli from that place you like."

Lena rolled her eyes good-naturedly, a smirk upturning her lips, and turned to face her assistant. "This is my friend, Kara. Always allow her in to see me."

Candace nodded, eyeing Kara with suspicion, and walked away, heading back to her desk.

Lena bit back a chuckle at the situation and entered her office. Closing the door behind her, she looked back to Kara, who already had half a cannolo in her mouth.

"I thought those were for me?" Lena quipped, biting back the howl of laughter threatening to her escape lips.

Kara swallowed her first bite and shrugged. "I bought several so we could share," she explained, shoving the other half of the cannolo into her mouth.

Lena walked up to her friend and took the box from her hands, cutting off her incoming protests with a challenging look. Kara snapped her mouth shut and followed Lena to the office couch, both women collapsing against it heavily. Now that Lena was closer to Kara, she felt the nerves rolling off the blonde in waves. There was something gnawing at her, and Lena could see it clear as day. The fact that Kara snatched back the box of cannoli from Lena's hands, just so she could grab another cannolo gave her away.

"What's up?" Lena questioned, her tone curious yet cautious.

Kara already had half the cannolo in her mouth. Instead of answering immediately, she nervously chewed on the pastry and avoided eye contact.

"Kara?" Lena tried again, plucking the half-eaten cannolo from Kara's hands and placing it back into the box.

Kara swallowed the pastry and took a deep breath, before turning to stare at Lena, her eyes full of fear.

Clearing her throat, Kara opened her mouth to speak. Lena just stared at her and waited.

Finally, Kara began to speak, "So, uh, Alex and Maggie are having a dinner party tonight…"

Lena quirked an eyebrow at that. Was this going in the direction she hoped it would?

Kara continued. "And, well, you and Alex haven't gotten that much of a chance to get to know each other. You've become one of my best friends and I think it's time that you spend time with the people I care about the most, because you are now one of those people," Kara rambled, shyly.

Not wanting to let the opportunity pass, Lena decided to ask a bold question. Consequences be damned. "Are you asking me to go as your date or as your friend?"

Kara's eyes widened comically as she stared at Lena in surprise. "W-would you want to go as my date?"

Lena felt her lips quirk upward. "Yes."

"Oh," Kara squeaked out. "Good. Then, yes, I'm asking you as my date. I just…didn't want to assume."

Lena smirked at the response her next words had elicited. "So, are you planning to pick me up by car or are you flying me there?"

The look of surprise was worth it, but the fact that Kara had chosen not to deny it made it even better. They still had a lot to discuss, but for tonight, Lena only wanted to focus on making a great impression on her date's older sister.

Flying through Alex Danvers' open window, however - while being held bridal style in Kara's arms – definitely did not do her any favors.


	2. Chapter 2

If Alex Danvers hadn't hated Lena Luthor before, then she probably did now. Had Lena known Kara would enter Alex's apartment through her open window, she would have talked her out of it. While it wasn't Lena's first time flying around the city in the blonde's arms, it  _was_  the first time she'd flown with her as Kara Danvers, and not Supergirl; it was that distinction between Kara's identities that had caused Alex's eyes to narrow the moment Kara entered her apartment, wearing nothing more than a nice pair of jeans, and a blue and pink striped sweater, holding a dress-clad Lena in her arms.

As soon as Kara landed on Alex's living room floor, she gently placed Lena on her feet and nervously smiled at the room's other occupants, unsubtly ignoring her sister's pointed glare.

"Hey, everyone!" Kara greeted awkwardly, her voice strangled and high-pitched.

"Hey, Kara," Maggie greeted, cautiously side-eyeing Alex as if ready to put a barrier between the two sisters, if needed.

The rest of the guests – Winn Schott, James Olsen, and Hank Henshaw – greeted Kara with warmth, and Lena with varying degrees of cautiousness, distrust and, in Winn and Maggie's case, tentative warmth and almost-friendliness. Lena supposed it was better than being greeted with outright contempt. Because of her name, Lena was used to being the target of strangers' instinctive hatred, but being used to something and being okay with it were two different things.

"Kara, I need to see you in my room.  _Now_." Alex demanded, turning on her heels and heading into the room farthest from the group, not bothering to check if Kara was following.

Kara turned to Lena and offered what she probably thought was a reassuring smile, but more closely resembled a grimace, and followed her sister into the room. Lena felt awkward standing in the middle of the living room, surrounded by people who distrusted her simply because she was a Luthor. She understood why, of course, given that she came from a family of anti-alien supervillains, but Lena had never given anyone reason to believe that she held the same beliefs. All she wanted to do was date Kara, and make a great first date impression on her. If she wanted to be in a room full of judgmental people, then she would've had dinner with her mother.

Clapping her hands together, Maggie announced, awkwardly, "Let's get seated while we wait for the bicker twins to return."

Murmuring their agreement, they made their way to the table. Hank, who seemed to have changed his attitude toward Lena, pulled out Lena's chair in a chivalrous gesture and sat two seats to her right, leaving an empty seat between them for Kara. Winn sat directly across from her, while Maggie sat beside him on his left. James sat at the other end of the table, directly across from Hank; the seat closest to Lena, at the other end of the table was, no doubt, reserved for Alex. Mentally cursing her luck, Lena half-rose from her seat, prepared to slip into the empty seat beside her, when Kara and Alex returned.

Kara walked around the table and took the empty seat between Hank and Lena, looking the opposite of annoyed (Lena thought Kara would have been red-face and irritated, like a Kryptonian version of Scrappy Doo). Alex, who also had a lack of annoyance on her face, glanced at Lena as she approached her seat. Her expression wasn't as suspicious as it had been a few minutes prior; her expression had changed to one of resignation, with just a dash of guilt in her eyes. Lena wasn't sure what Kara said to her, but some of Alex's iciness had melted away.

"Alright, guys. Now that the queen is back, let's eat," Maggie announced.

The table cheered, and James and Winn rose to retrieve the food from the counter. They brought back four dishes: one with chicken breast, one with tofurkey, one with mashed potatoes, and one with corn. The food smelled great, though Lena wondered who'd cooked it; she'd heard horror stories about Alex in the kitchen, so part of Lena was cautious about the food's edibility. Once the food was dished out to everyone at the table, Lena decided that it didn't matter. She'd scarf it down if it meant keeping the peace between her and the other guests.

A chuckle to her right caught her attention and Lena turned to find Hank already looking at her, subtly gesturing to the food with a nod of his head. With a wink, he picked up his fork and cautiously tasted the chicken.

With a sigh of relief, Hank said, "The food tastes wonderful, Alex. Did you cook or did Maggie?"

Alex rolled her eyes and responded, "Maggie did. She wouldn't allow me in the kitchen."

"Damn right," Maggie agreed, sharing a chuckle with the rest of the table.

Lena looked back to Hank, who offered her a small, secretive smile, as if he could read her mind and –  _oh_. Hank's chortle confirmed Lena's suspicion.

"Are you okay?" Kara whispered to Lena as the conversation around the table picked up. "I feel like I've been the worst date in history, and I am so sorry about that. Maybe we can consider this our practice first date and reschedule our official date for another day?"

Kara was starting to babble and Lena couldn't help the wide smile that stretched across her face. "This date is great so far, but I already can't wait for the next one," Lena whispered back.

Lena was awarded with Kara's room-brightening smile, and felt her heart increase its pace. How Lena had thought her feelings for Kara were platonic, she'd never know. An amused snort from her right caught her attention, and Lena turned to see none other than Hank hiding a smile behind his glass of water.

Lena resolved to turn her thoughts off for the rest of the night.

* * *

After everyone had eaten, they moved to the living room and retired to the sofas. Kara and Lena were huddled closely to one another on one end of the sofa, a glass of wine in Lena's hand, and Kara's abandoned glass on the coffee table. Maggie and Alex were cuddled together on the opposite end of the couch, Maggie engaged in a heated debate with James, who was seated on the one-seater across from them. Alex sipped on the beer in her hand and watched them argue, an amused smile curving her lips. Hank and Winn sat at the counter, engaged in a conversation about DEO business, and it was then that Lena realized that he was the Martian, J'onn J'onzz, that her mother had told her about during one of her anti-alien rants. He'd outsmarted Lillian on more than one occasion, and Lena found herself regarding the man with a newfound respect because of it.

"What are you thinking about?" Kara asked.

Lena shrugged and made herself comfortable against the sofa cushions. "You just have an interesting group of friends. You guys are like a family."

"Well, you're officially part of this family now. It may take a little while for it to really feel that way but, trust me, when it fully sinks in, you'll almost find yourself wanting out.  _Almost_ ," Kara teased.

Lena smiled at her words, but doubted the legitimacy of them. In what world would Kara's friends and family treat her like she belonged?

"Lena, can I speak with you for a moment?" Lena heard Alex ask, her head whipping in the direction of the older Danvers sibling.

Alex's expression was neutral, but Lena could sense that she was about to get the "if you hurt my sister, I will kill you" talk. Not one to back down, Lena nodded and rose from her seat, smiling at the gentle squeeze Kara gave her hand. The other conversations in the room briefly paused when the two women stood up to leave the room. Alex walked toward the front door and opened it, looking back at Lena and gesturing for her to follow her out to the hallway. Lena complied, and that was how she found herself face-to-face with Alex, alone.

Alex leaned against her front door and crossed her arms over her chest, sizing Lena up. "What are your intentions with my sister, and why should I trust you?"

"I want to date your sister and my only intention is to make her as happy as she makes me. You should trust me because she does," Lena shot back, refusing to back down.

Alex narrowed her eyes. "Kara likes to see the best in people. How do I know you're not just taking advantage of her kindness? How do I know you're not manipulating her?"

"Kara may try to see the best in people, but even she knows when they're a lost cause. She's not stupid and neither are you. If I wanted to hurt Kara, I would have done it already."

Alex looked pensive at that response, but said nothing. Lena continued.

"I've known Kara's identity for months, Alex. It wasn't until today, after she'd asked me out, that I felt I could bring it up. I would rather sacrifice all that I have than put Kara in harm's way."

And Lena meant it. Judging by Alex's change in demeanor, she believed her.

In lieu of reply, Alex nodded and placed her hand on the doorknob. Turning back to Lena, she raised an eyebrow and said, "Shall we?"

Re-entering Alex's apartment, all eyes were on them. Kara had the goofiest grin on her face, while Maggie stared between her and Alex, as if checking for bruises or wounded prides. When she saw none of that, she sagged in relief and winked at Lena. Winn and Hank smiled at Lena and then returned to their previous discussion. And then there was James who looked a little conflicted by the civility.

"I take it you've been properly threatened?" James inquired as Lena reclaimed her seat beside Kara.

Lena knew that whatever came out of his mouth next would have to do with Superman and Lex's rivalry and how a Super should never trust a Luthor, so she cut him off before he could say anything more.

"I am not Lex, and Kara is not Clark. Whatever hang-ups you have about the drama between my brother and your best friend, you should leave in Metropolis. My intentions with Kara are non-threatening."

The room fell silent again, everyone staring at Lena with wide eyes and slacked jaws. Lena scoffed.

"No offense to you, Kara, but you and your cousin need better disguises. Anyone who's encountered both of your personas on a regular basis should be able to figure it out."

With a loud snort, Alex retrieved her beer from the coffee table and raised it toward Lena, as if toasting her. "Kara, she's a keeper. I approve."

Within the next few weeks, Lena had found herself on biweekly dates with Kara, and in attendance to many more Super friends' outings. She'd also received a semi-threatening, semi-impressed phone call from Clark Kent.

But that was a story for another time.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Because some of you asked for a second chapter, here you go. If you're interested in more, let me know!


	3. Chapter 3

Lena stood on her office balcony and stared at the bustling city below her, feeling strangely pensive. After a month filled with biweekly dates, group hangouts, and weekly Danvers sister's movie nights, she and Kara decided to finally make their relationship official and everyone, including James, seemed to accept it and, dare she say, even seemed to approve of it. Approve of  _her_. Her frequent status change with Kara's friends gave her a severe case of emotional whiplash, but it was nothing she couldn't handle. It was weird going from enemy to frenemy to friend, all in the span of four weeks, but it was a whiplash Lena was quite used to, given her rocky upbringing and complicated relationship with her adoptive family.

But this was the type of whiplash that she could handle. Kara's friends were a million times nicer to her than the Luthors ever were, and they accepted her into the fold despite their previous reservations. Even though Lena had gotten the girlfriend stamp of approval from almost everyone in the Superfriends Squad, there was still one member of that group she had yet to impress.

And that person was none other than Clark Kent. Imagine Lena's surprise when she received a text message from Superman himself, telling her to expect a call from him. She could practically hear the threat in his typed words, but it didn't faze her. She wasn't scared of him, and he knew it. Maybe he was hoping that now was his chance to finally scare her the way he'd managed to scare the rest of her family.

Lena was sure he'd fail.

She and Clark had a rocky relationship, and that was largely due to his animosity-filled relationship with Lex. Lena had known Clark for over a decade, from the days when he and Lex had been best friends. Clark used to look at her with warmth and compassion, but the moment he and Lex fell out, he started to regard her with coldness and distrust, as if she, too, had put a target on his back. The rest of her family had turned on Clark as well, but she'd never taken part in their feud; she'd chosen to move away instead and make a name for herself. A  _good_  name for herself.

Apparently, trying to bring hope to the world through hard work and well-funded research wasn't enough to impress Clark. His first visit to L Corp, with Kara trailing timidly behind him, hadn't convinced him of her good intentions. It is no surprise that her blossoming relationship with Kara had only worried him more. While Lena could understand his protectiveness over Kara and his distrust of her, she couldn't understand his lack of faith in Kara's judgment and ability to keep herself safe, had Lena been plotting against her (which, for the record, she was not). It felt as if Lena was not the only one he didn't fully trust.

Just as that thought crossed her mind, her office phone began to ring. Rolling her eyes at the sound, she pushed off the balcony's railing and made her way back inside. She let the phone ring an extra two times before she sat in her chair and picked up the phone mid-ring, giving her usual, professional greeting, despite already knowing who was on the other line.

"Lena," came the curt voice.

"Ah, Clark Kent. To what do I owe the pleasure?" Lena asked, sarcasm dripping heavily into her words. The annoyed grunt in response to her tone caused a sarcastic smile to quirk her lips. "Cat got your tongue, Clark? Or are you choking on the thought of your cousin and I dating? That is what you called to discuss with me, is it not?"

If Clark could use his laser vision through the phone, Lena had no doubt that he would. She was already pushing his buttons, and they weren't even a full minute into their conversation. It usually took her about two minutes to rustle his feathers, so this was a personal best.

"What do you want with Kara?" He demanded, his voice menacing.

Lena rolled her eyes and released a heavy, annoyed sigh. "To be with her. Believe it or not, Clark, not all of us Luthors are out to get you. I really like her and she makes me happy, and if you've spoken to her recently, it seems that I make her happy, too. So, the better question is: why do you want Kara to be unhappy?"

Clark scoffed at her answer, as she'd expected him to. He was so predictable.

"Don't do you dare try to turn this around on me, Lena. You know I only want what's best for Kara."

"So do I," Lena agreed. "Maybe I'm not the best for her, but she chose me, and I will honor that choice by treating her the way she deserves to be treated. I'm not the bad guy, Clark. The bad guy that you are so against is in a maximum-security prison, serving several life sentences for the crimes he's committed against you and all the innocent people that he's hurt. I am not Lex."

Clark was silent for a moment, probably thinking of a great rebuttal. None ever came. Two minutes of silence passed before Clark spoke again.

"If you hurt her, in any way, I will make your life a living hell," he threatened.

"Superman threatening a law-abiding citizen? If only the press were here to witness to this," Lena quipped, biting back a laugh at the man's outraged sputtering. "I've known for years, Clark, and I haven't said a word."

"Lena, I swear, if you do anything to hurt Kara or my family, you will regret it."

Suddenly serious, Lena replied, "I would never do that."

Clark hummed, seemingly pleased for the moment. "Lois and I are planning on taking a trip to National City this weekend. I've already asked Kara to have dinner with us, and she agreed to come with you as her date."

Lena, completely stupefied, mumbled out a quiet, "what?"

"See you in a few days, Lena," Clark informed her, guffawing as he hung up the phone.

Lena, still stunned, dazedly placed the phone back on its receiver and picked up the cell phone resting beside it. She dialed Kara's number, her girlfriend picking up after the second ring with her usual cheery greeting.

"Hey, Lena, what's up?"

"When were you going to tell me about our weekend plans with your cousin?"

Silence, followed by nervous laughter, followed by panicked rambling.

And there was the confirmation Lena was dreading.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Would you guys like to see more? Let me know! Hope you all have enjoyed these extremely random 3 chapters lol.


	4. Chapter 4

"I wish I could say that I'm surprised you got us into this mess, but then I'd be lying, and because I don't want our relationship to be built on lies, I want you to know that I am extremely unhappy with you right now."

Kara frowned and averted her eyes from Lena's piercing stare, looking properly chastised. She was standing ramrod straight and left about three feet of distance between herself and the desk Lena was using to shield herself from Kara's forlorn expression. Lena hadn't even been in her girlfriend's presence for more than a minute, yet her icy resolve was already beginning to melt. She wanted to be angry at Kara for making plans with Clark behind her back, it was just the "being angry" part that she seemed to be having trouble with. She knew Kara's intentions weren't malicious, and she knew that Kara would cancel the plans if Lena had asked her to. But she also knew that Kara would have led her into that restaurant on Saturday night, leaving her completely unaware that she was about to be ambushed by Mr. and Mrs. Super.

Lexa could picture it now: an hour into their meal, Lois and Kara would rise from the table and claim to need the bathroom, leaving Lena and Clark to talk out their issues and finally set aside their differences. And when all was said and done, they'd return from the plant they were hiding behind, where Kara used her super hearing to eavesdrop on their whole conversation, and then pretend as if they weren't spying on them the entire time.

Clearly, Lena was speaking from personal experience.

While it may have worked for her and James a few weeks prior (Kara could be very persuasive when she wanted to be), the thought of being trapped at a small table, sat across from the world's most self-righteous man, was not Lena's idea of a good time. A dinner would not magically fix Lena and Clark's rocky relationship. She wouldn't say their relationship was irreparable, but the damage was far too severe to fix all at once.

"I know," Kara said with a dejected sigh, raising her eyes to meet Lena's steady gaze. "I just thought it'd be nice if two of the most important people in my life would at least try to get along for a few hours. I'm not deluded enough to think that one dinner will make everything better, but I do think that you two need to set aside your differences. He doesn't actually hate you, and I know you don't actually hate him; you hate what the other represents."

"Have you been watching Dr. Phil again?"

Kara scoffed, looking affronted at the accusation. She opened her mouth to deny the claim, then thought better of it and just mumbled out an unintelligible response. Lena took that as a yes.

"Look," Kara sighed, "If you don't want to do this, then we won't. I'll call Clark and cancel right now."

And she was serious. Kara's hand had almost reached her jeans pocket when Lena stopped her.

"Fine, I'll go. But I'm only doing this for you."

A grin spread across Kara's face as she squealed and made her way around Lena's desk. Kara gently plopped onto Lena's lap and placed a chaste kiss to her lips. Lena rolled her eyes good-naturedly and captured Kara's bottom lip between her teeth, tugging at it gently before releasing it from her teeth's clutch. Kara sucked her abused bottom lip into her mouth and eyed Lena suggestively.

"Do you have anything left to do here?" Kara questioned, her tone husky and hopeful.

Lena smirked. "I'm all yours."

And within seconds, Kara flew through the office window and straight to Lena's apartment.

* * *

 

Saturday night had arrived much quicker than Lena would have liked, but there was nothing she could do about it now. She sat across the table from Clark, at some fancy French restaurant outside of National City that he and Lois apparently frequented when they were in town. Kara was fortunate enough to be sat opposite Lois, who she was currently engaged in a riveting conversation about journalism with. Lena and Clark, however, were completely silent; they sporadically stole glances at one another while trying to find things to say. Lena wasn't sure how to converse with Clark when she wasn't throwing jabs at him, and he seemed to be experiencing the same issue.

If they weren't butting heads over something, then what reason did they have to talk to each other?

Lois and Kara were skillfully ignoring Lena and Clark's existence, not giving even so much as a glance in their direction.

And then, as Lena had predicted earlier that week, Kara and Lois excused themselves to 'powder their noses', leaving Clark and Lena to suffer together in awkward silence.

Lena ran her fingers through her hair, tilted her head back to rest against the cushioned booth seat, and released a frustrated sigh. They'd been there an hour, and not one word had been exchanged between her and Clark. If she wanted to make sure this dinner wasn't all for naught, one of them would have to say something.

So, she did.

"Why is this so hard?" Lena asked, the sound of her voice startling Clark, who hadn't been expecting either of them to speak.

Composing himself, he looked her in the eye and retorted, "You know why."

Lena rolled her eyes at the typical answer because, no, she didn't know why. "I know that Lex hurt a lot of innocent people, including you, and I'm sorry for that, but that has nothing to do with me. Because I'm a Luthor, you've decided to lump me in with the family that never gave a damn about me? The family that chose to destroy thousands of lives, including mine? I decided to take over Luthor Corp so that I could reverse the damage they caused, and renew hope in the citizens of National City. But, because I'm a Luthor, you and half this city still refuse to believe that my intentions are pure. I understand the hesitation, but I've put my life on the line countless times since moving here, and yet I'm still considered the enemy."

Clark opened his mouth to, no doubt, tell Lena that no one from her family could be trusted, but she switched gears and cut him off before he could.

"Do you remember the time you taught me how to play badminton?"

He furrowed his brow and regarded her curiously. "I do," he said, slowly, not quite understanding where she was going with this.

"Do you remember how patient you were with me that day? And how you refused to call it a day until I could score at least one point on you?"

Clark slowly nodded, still looking slightly confused.

"You were a better big brother to me than Lex was, yet you started treating me like the enemy the moment he turned homicidal, as if I was equally responsible for the crimes he committed. We were close at one point, too, Clark," Lena reminded him, seeing understanding beginning to dawn on him.

"So, what are you saying?"

"I'm saying that you and I should try to keep things civil."

Clark wrinkled his nose. "You want us to be friends again?"

Lena scoffed. "No. I have enough friends, thank you."

Which was surprisingly true. Two months ago, the only friend she'd had was Kara. Kara's friends, specifically Winn and Lucy, whom she'd just met a few weeks prior, hung out with her almost as much as Kara did. Unlike Clark, those two actually wanted to be around her, but Lena figured she'd attempt to get along with the annoying superhero if it meant less arguments.

"So, what do you say? Frenemies?"

Clark's stony expression cracked, and a small smile pulled at the corners of his mouth. "Fine. But, remember, if-

"If I hurt Kara, you'll throw me into the sun. I know," she finished for him.

Right on cue, Lois and Kara reappeared, just like clockwork. Both women wore relieved smiles on their faces as they slipped back into the booth, finally acknowledging Lena and Clark's existence.

"What'd we miss?" Kara asked coyly, a knowing glint in her eye.

In lieu of a reply, Lena brought her glass of red wine to her lips, and pointedly glared at Kara over the rim of her glass.

Kara smiled innocently and picked up the dessert menu from the table. "Who wants dessert?"

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> If you want there to be more, let me know! Thanks for reading!


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